Her True Hero
by EverythingsComingUpKurt
Summary: Barry battles Palmer, but for different reasons than he normally would have.


**Her True Hero**

For any other trainer, it would be a normal battle at the Battle Frontier against the Tower Tycoon, Palmer. But for Barry, it was different. And it wasn't only because Palmer was his father. It was because of one girl, that this match was so important for him to win. When Barry was a little boy in Twinleaf Town, he had a crush on his neighbour Dawn. But Dawn didn't return his feelings. What she did to Barry, was far worse than rejection.

_"Hey Barry!" Dawn greeted her friend as he walked into her home. "Come on! We're gonna miss Palmer's battle!" Dawn dragged Barry up to her room to watch Palmer's match on tv. Barry felt a small feeling of jealousy as he made his way up the stairs._

_'Why can't Dawn care about me as much as she cares about my Dad? Is my Dad really that special to her?'_

Dawn didn't mean to hurt him, but it was difficult for Barry to keep smiling when she only wanted to watch his father battle. Dawn was crushing on Barry's own father and admired him. And Barry was kind of jealous, Barry wanted Dawn to like him too, so he trained really hard with his Prinplup. But Dawn never took notice of him, all she cared about was Palmer and his Pokemon.

_"Dawn, look!" Barry came running into Dawn's house and up the stairs into her room, where her eyes were glued to a tv set, which of course had Palmer battling on._

_"Dawn! My Prinplup learned Bubblebeam! Watch!" Barry ordered his Prinplup to use Bubblebeam, but unforunately Prinplup aimed its attack at the television and bubbles hit the tv and broke it._

_"Oh my gosh! Dawn, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to break your television! Maybe I can buy you a new one?" Barry quickly started apologizing._

_"No, Barry. Its alright. Just get out." The next second Barry was kicked out the door and as he turned to go back in, it slammed shut in his face._

_"Dawn, come on! I'm sure they'll play it again!" Barry pounded on the door._

Ever since Dawn started having that crush on his father, Barry promised himself that he would battle and defeat his father and have Dawn see it herself. Since it was unlikely, she'd actually be amongst the audience, Barry figured that she'd watch it on her television. Barry hoped that maybe if he defeated Palmer, Dawn would fall for him instead. And if he lost...well he didn't really want to think about that. He couldn't stand losing to his dad and have Dawn witness it herself. He knew Dawn would watch his match, because he had phoned her just yesterday.

_"Look Dawn, I gotta go. I'm sorry." Barry said sadly into the payphone. "Dawn, will you be there to see my match tommorow?"_

_"Against who?" Dawn asked._

_"I'm going to the Battle Frontier to battle Palmer." Barry explained._

_"Awesome! I will definitely watch it! Its going to be awesome!" Barry noticed Dawn's enthusiasm and wondered if it was for him or for his dad._

_"Promise?" Barry asked hopefully._

_"Definitely! This is a battle I can't miss!" _

_"Alright, I gotta go now." Barry replied._

_"Bye Barry." Barry hung up the phone and smiled. _

_"Dawn, I hope that this battle will be enough to prove to you, that I'm the one you like." _

Finally, Palmer stepped out into the arena. Everyone in the audience was seated and staring wide eyed at Palmer.

"Are you ready, son?" Palmer asked Barry.

"More than ready, Dad. I've been waiting to battle you for a long time." Barry replied with confidence.

"Well then you should know that I'm not going easy on you, just because you're my son." Palmer then sent out his first pokemon which was a Rhyperior.

Barry sent out his Heracross. He figured that a Fighting type would be a good match up against a Rock type like Rhyperior.

"Alright Rhyperior, attack with AncientPower!"

_'What is he doing?' _Barry thought to himself.

"Heracross use Close Combat!"

Heracross quickly launched a powerful Close Combat at Rhyperior. Palmer's Rhyperior took alot of damage but was still ready to keep on fighting.

"Rhyperior, use Hammer Arm!" Rhyperior attacked with Hammer Arm which didn't do much damage to Heracross. Barry's Heracross countered with Close Combat, and this time Rhyperior fainted.

_'Hes making this too easy for me.'_ Barry thought to himself. The two trainers sent their pokemon back into their pokeballs. Palmer sent out Dragonite and Barry sent out his Roserade.

"Roserade try Poison Jab!" Barry's Roserade launched a Poison Jab at Dragonite, which easily flew into the sky where Roserade couldn't reach it.

"Dragonite use Fly!" Dragonite quickly swooped down and attacked Roserade. Barry's Roserade was knocked to the ground, Palmer took advantage of this oppertunity to attack again.

"Dragonite attack it with Flamethrower!" Flames shot out of Dragonite's mouth and hit Roserade. The Grass pokemon thrashed but wasn't able to resist the powerful attack and fainted from the combined damage of Fly and Flamethrower.Barry and Palmer returned their Pokemon to their Pokeballs and prepared to send out their final Pokemon.

**Meanwhile...**

Dawn had shown up at the Battle Frontier to watch Barry's battle with Palmer. But strangely, she wasn't interested in Palmer at all. It was Barry who she was really paying attention to. She was hoping Barry would look up into the audience and see her but he never did. But that didn't stop her from cheering and applauding with the rest of the crowd.

_'Palmer's battles have never been this thrilling before.' _Dawn thought to herself. _'Why did I care so much about his dull battles, where he would defeat his opponets almost as soon as the match started? Is it because of Barry that I'm really interested in this battle? But when has Barry ever been this great? Have I been too interested in Palmer to take notice of a real champion?'_

Dawn found herself cheering on Barry instead of Palmer. She sat beside a bunch of Palmer's fans and at one point in the match, a woman said "That rookie trainer isn't going to stand a chance against Palmer. He is the Tower Tycoon. That kid probably doesn't even have all of the Sinnoh Gym Badges."

"Barry is not a rookie!" Dawn protested. "Hes my friend and I'll have you know that he has all eight badges, and he's also already beaten twenty one trainers here!"

"Anyone can beat those amateurs. But Palmer is another story. He is the strongest trainer here. Very few win against him."

**With Barry...**

_'Looks like its time to send out our last Pokemon.' _Barry thought to himself. _'Dawn I hope you're watching because I'm doing this all for you!'_

Barry then sent out his Empoleon and Palmer sent out his Milotic.

"Looks like its a Water-Water matchup." Palmer stated.

"Yeah, but we're gonna win!" Barry felt strangely confident in himself and Empoleon.

"I'm not going easy on you." Palmer stated.

"I know." Barry replied.

"Milotic use Surf!" Palmer commanded his Milotic.

_'What is he doing?' _

At once, the arena became a large swimming pool which was perfect for a Water battle. Milotic then hid under the water.

"Empoleon, use Hydro Pump where Milotic went in the water!" Barry commanded his Empoleon.

Empoleon launched a Hydro Pump at where Milotic went underwater but nothing happened.

"What?" Barry exclaimed.

"Milotic use Dive!"

Milotic sprang out of the water and attacked Empoleon, which went flying backwards and into the water.

"Empoleon attack it with Avalance!" But unforunately for Barry, Empoleon's Ice type move did almost no damage to Milotic. Milotic then went underwater.

"Not this again!" Barry had his Empoleon attack everywhere but it never hit Milotic. Then, Milotic once again sprang up out of the water and hit Empoleon. Empoleon fell backwards and had difficulty standing up. Palmer took advantage of this oppertunity to attack again.

"Milotic, use Mud Slap!"

The Ground attack hit perfectly and Empoleon, being weak to Ground types, fell backwards. It laid there for a few minutes, struggling to stand up.

"It can't be over already!" Barry exclaimed. "Empoleon, get up!"

_If you won't do it for me, then do it for Dawn._

Empoleon still laid there, trying to get back onto its feet.

_We're stronger than this._

_I have to show Dawn that her real hero is me and not my father._

And then almost out of nowhere, he heard her voice. Her wonderful, almost angelic voice.

"You can do it, Barry!"

He recognized that voice. It belonged to Dawn. Had she come to see him? He couldn't turn around but then Empoleon twitched.

It twitched more and more as it struggled to get up. And finally it managed to stay on its two feet.

_Nows my chance._

"Empoleon use Flash Cannon!"

The light coming from the attack blinded the audience temporarily. The only thing Barry saw was the amazing power of Empoleon's attack. It hit Milotic and Milotic went flying into the water. Barry knew then and there that it wouldn't come up. There was no possible way it could have dodged Empoleon's attack. Even Palmer knew that Barry had won. Barry stared hard at his father.

_If this didn't convince you, I don't know what will, Dawn. But I know that I'm not going to give up on you. You're the only one I'll ever love. I hope you saw that when you watched my battle._

**With Dawn...**

Dawn watched in awe. It was absolutely stunning watch Empoleon launch an attack. Was it out of love? But what could Barry possibly love so much? And then he turned to face her, his eyes locked with hers. And thats when she knew.

**Hello Everyone!**

**This is IM!**

**Hope you enjoyed this fic!**

**Barry may be Out-Of-Character.**

**And in case you're wondering, this fic does not follow the anime so that means Dawn and Barry have never met Ash and they are best friends just like in Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum.**

**I really hope you enjoyed**

**This is for the Twinleafshippers, unforunately theres not too many of us**

**Please Read & Review**

**Infernape Master :)**


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